1991 Volkswagen Golf Clipper

This wonderful Volkswagen Golf Clipper automatic has been in the care of the same family from new. Bought by the vendor’s father for his wife, no expense was spared with the order form and it arrived fully optioned with every available extra including a white front grill, bumpers, door handle inserts, windscreen wipers, and alloy wheels plus a matching white dashboard fascia, steering wheel, and leather seats. The folding hood matches the paintwork too, and the car also features four electric windows and central locking.

A special order from Volkswagen in Germany, it was first registered on the 23rd of January 1991 after having been supplied by Whites of Camberley. It then spent its life in Monaco with its retired owners enjoying the warm climate and hot summer sun. This carefree and salt-free existence explains its rust-free condition, while its cherished status explains the rest.

Inherited by their son, it is fresh from a receipted £15,000 restoration that included a full respray, a new electrically operated hood and leather interior, an engine rebuild, and the refurbishment of the alloy wheels. A genuine labour of love, it is more of a tribute to his parents than a traditional car restoration.

Almost certainly the best available today, it has the sort of guide price that’s left us scrabbling down the back of the sofa for the requisite funds while simultaneously telling each other that they simply can’t stay this cheap forever….

As you’d expect of a car that’s been so recently restored, the bodywork looks amazing. But then it has every right to as the work cost £7,400 back in February 2018. This might sound like a fairly hefty sum and is made all the more so when you take into consideration that there wasn’t a single scrap of rust to be eliminated. Or any welding to carry out. And no accident damage to put right.

All there was was 20+ years of French touch-parking to rectify; it was untidy and scruffy rather than neglected and abused, something the vendor couldn’t bear to see. Meticulous by his own admission, the money went on getting every little detail right rather than correcting years of corrosion and abuse.

There’s not a great deal to say about the result other than it is a great example of what can be achieved on a well-preserved, rust-free car by folk who know what they’re doing. The paint has been beautifully applied and an awful lot of time – and we do mean an awful lot of time – has gone into getting everything exactly how it would have been when it was new.

The work didn’t end there though because the vinyl roof and special order alloy wheels were refurbished at the same time, racking up another bill, this time for £2,268. Both, of course, look stunning and the rims are shod with matching tyres, all of which have good tread.

The roof rises and falls as it should, sealing tightly and sitting proud, just like the original Beetle’s, when it’s lowered.

In fact, the work left for you to do is limited to the roof’s matching white leather tonneau cover, which is grubby. It’s still the original though, which is great to see, and from what we can see it should respond to being valeted.

The new leather interior, which was fitted in December 2018 at a cost of £4,272, comprised the seats, dashboard, door cards, steering wheel and centre console – and while white might not be your first choice of colour there’s no denying it looks simply sensational and would have been utterly perfect for tooling around in the south of France.

It really does look splendid but then the bits they didn’t touch look equally good. So, the dashboard is glossy black and free of damage, the switchgear is still bright and vibrant, the rubber seals around the door mirror adjusters sit straight, the leather headlining is taut and clean, and even the warning sticker for the folding roof is still present and correct on the top of the dashboard.

The Golf also benefits from a new Becker stereo and speakers, which might be modern but look completely at home thanks to their semi-retro design. This attention to detail is typical of the thoroughness of the restorative work that has been carried out – and this work was clearly carried out as a labour of love for a cherished member of the family rather than any kind of considered financial investment…

The tool kit in the boot looks to be unused, as does the space-saver spare wheel. Lifting the latter out shows the sort of solid metalwork to the boot floor that you normally only see with fully refurbished cars and the rear bulkhead still sports the original factory stickers; chalk another one up to that clement Monaco climate.

The Phirm carried out a service and MOT in February 2019 that included – and this won’t come as any surprise when you hear it set the vendor back £4,560 – an awful lot of fettling. Please see slide numbers 207, 208 and 209 for the details.

Similar work was carried out in August 2017 for £2,045. There are other bills too, which tot up to a not inconsiderable £15,000 or so in total. It might be a cliché but, in this case it’s true to say that absolutely no expense has been spared in making this car as good as it can possibly be.

The underside is also remarkably clean, something we think can be chalked up to its Monaco life rather than restoration. This is a Good Thing, of course, and we can only see a couple of tiny areas where the underseal could do with being touched up.

One more nice touch are the bleed nipples, which have red caps to keep them clean. A small thing, for sure, but these kinds of flourishes go to the very heart of what makes a car great example rather than one that is merely good.

As you can see in the video, it starts cleanly, revs well, and settles into an even tickover. Sure, the engine is a bit rattly but they all are and there’s nothing here that would worry us in the slightest given the recent rebuild.

The engine bay is the weakest part of the Golf, not because it’s bad because it isn’t. It’s just that it’s a clean, workaday engine bay and so stands in contrast to the rest of the car, which is ultra-clean and looks like new. However, the vendor even thought long and hard about this, eventually falling down on the side of preserving it as much as possible; the garage pointed out the original rust-proofing wax was still there and persuaded him that it would be better to get the mechanical components sorted and to lightly tidy it but no more. Opinions will vary but, for what it’s worth, we think he struck the perfect balance.

But, if you disagree then even that’s probably a blessing given we’re all going to be climbing the walls in boredom come the summer while you’ll be happily ensconced in your garage detailing the engine bay of what is possibly the cleanest convertible Golf in the UK.

NB: The Golf was fitted with an aftermarket power-steering system from new. This eventually gave up the ghost and, unable to source replacement parts, the system as removed.

The Golf’s MOT certificate, which is valid until October 2021, was gained without a single advisory point, something it’s been doing for the past couple of years.

It has a number of expired MOT certificates plus a sheaf of invoices and bills to confirm the work that has been done to it over the years.

It also still has its original owner’s handbook, service history booklet, book pack, and storage wallet plus the original manual and instructions for the stereo.

Please visit the documents section of the gallery of this listing where you will find photos of this and other paperwork to support our claim that this car has been maintained and restored to a peerless standard.

Said by the firm’s grande fromage to be “immaculate” we can’t remember seeing a cleaner MKI Golf of any flavour. Restored at vast expense and still showing fewer than 50,000 miles on the clock, this is probably as close as you’re going to get to finding a new one.

And, it’s not as if you’re buying an ex-rust bucket whose provenance means that the dreaded tin worm is going to find its way out again because this was a rust-free example that was prettified and refurbished rather than welded and bodged, which means you’ll be able to sleep at night in the knowledge that there are no hidden nasties waiting to crawl out at the first sign of rain.

With this in mind we think the guide price of £9,600 to £13,000 makes this one an absolute bargain; even at the top end, you’ll be paying less than the cost of the restoration, which means you get the low-mileage, one-owner-from-new, Monaco-garaged, VW Golf Clipper with that lovely rebuilt GTI engine for free…

Inspection is always encouraged, within Govt. guidelines of course, and this particular car is located with us at The Market HQ near Abingdon; to arrange an appointment please use the ‘Contact Seller’ button at the top of the listing. Feel free to ask any questions or make observations in the comments section below, or try our ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.